NFL power rankings, Week 3: Giants move up to No. 19

Week 2 has officially wrapped up and your New York Giants continue to roll. After a 19-16 victory at MetLife Stadium over the Carolina Panthers, the Giants will set their sights on Week 3. The Giants will be in the national spotlight on Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys, hoping to keep their unbeaten season alive.

This week, we have aggregated nine power rankings and the average ranking for the New York Giants has risen to No. 19.

NFL.com (19)

Break out the Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-Men! Big Blue is 2-0 for the first time since 2016, and it’s Don “Wink” Martindale’s side of the ball that deserves most of the credit. The Giants’ defense — identified as a talent-poor liability entering the season — has allowed just 36 points through two games. On Sunday, Martindale cooked up a scheme that flummoxed Baker Mayfield, who managed just 145 yards passing on 29 attempts. New York shut down the Carolina attack on a day in which Leonard Williams exited with an MCL sprain and first-round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux remained sidelined by a knee injury. The defense has another soft-schedule matchup on Sunday against the Dak Prescott-free Cowboys.

USA Today (19)

If you thought 2021 was a disaster for big-money free agent WR Kenny Golladay, it’s apparently going much worse in 2022. He has two receptions this season and was in for two plays Sunday.

Sporting News (13)

The Giants, like the Dolphins and Vikings, also made a good offensive-minded hire with Brian Daboll, a smart coach who has experience with both Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. But the story of their early surprise, on top of a rejuvenated Saquon Barkley, has been a gritty rushing-based attack and solid defense, even minus Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari.

ESPN (19)

Biggest early adjustment: Find a No. 1 WR

It could be Kadarius Toney. He handled a bigger workload in Week 2, but still had just two catches for zero yards. It could be Kenny Golladay, who saw just two snaps Sunday, or Sterling Shepard, who leads the Giants with 14 targets through two weeks. Or Richie James, who leads the team with 10 catches for 110 yards. As coach Brian Daboll said after this week’s win over Carolina, there will be a “continual competition” at wide receiver to determine playing time and ultimately targets. But someone needs to step up.

The Athletic (17)

No coordinator has done more with less through two weeks than Wink Martindale with his hodgepodge gang of Giants defenders. The temptation is to say Martindale’s blitz-heavy tendencies will come back to bite the Giants when they play a good quarterback, but the Giants’ schedule is so easy that might not end up being so much of a problem. Per TruMedia, only five of their remaining 15 games are against quarterbacks in the top 15 of EPA per dropback against the blitz since last season, and only two of those (Aaron Rodgers in Week 5 and Lamar Jackson in Week 6) are before Thanksgiving. The offense, which ranks 24th in EPA per drive, is probably not for real.

Pro Football Talk (21)

Early wins under a new regime gets the players to buy in.

CBS Sports (20)

At 2-0, the main question about them is whether they are any good. Maybe not, but the record is what it is.

Yahoo! Sports (22)

The Giants’ next two games are against the Cowboys and Bears at home. Is it possible we’re looking at a 4-0 start for Brian Daboll? The Giants might not be all that good, but strange things can happen when a team gains some confidence early in the season.

NBC Sports Chicago (20)

I still don’t think the Giants are good. But 2-0 is 2-0.